'08 Scion XB: Vegas, Baby, Vegas
Carter Jung
Map Provided By Google
Even at dusk, the twinkling lights of Las Vegas against the tan-colored desert is magnanimous. No matter how many times I've experienced it, words can't describe the sheer excitement that comes from rounding the last bend of the 15 highway, greeted by the embrace of Sin City's warm glow. Vegas, baby, Vegas.
For most Angelenos, our favorite weekend getaway is Las Vegas, NV. A city built for adults of the non-god-fearing kind, it's filled with gambling, partying and other 24/7 vices that puts our Hollywood to shame. But like any great adventure, it takes the crossing of a desert. The motivation for crossing 250 miles of parched plains is there, but the method is up to debate: Fly or drive?
On the flying side of the equation, there's ticket costs, fuel taxes, the airport itself, the not so wonderful people employed by the TSA, funky smelling passengers, toilets that spew blue liquids while vacuuming the air out of your ears, the chance that your mode of transportation can be used as a WMD, etc. Driving on the other hand, offers the flexibility to stop where you want, sit with who you want, and leave when you want. And without traffic, Vegas takes only about three and a half hours with the obligatory pee stops... stops with toilets that flush real water and won't suck the very soul out of you. Factoring in the time it takes to drive to the airport, park, take the shuttle, check into your flight, fly, use pressurized blue toilets, land, disembark, wait for your luggage, get a taxi; the utility that flying offers, saving of time, is completely negated.
But how about cost? With ever-increasing prices at the pump, would the price of a flight be about the same as driving? We wanted to test that theory, so we took two Scions, an xB and an xD, filled the tanks in Pasadena, CA, reset the trip odometer, and embarked on our test/journey.
In stark contrast to most SoCal driving, highway 15 is easy. The trick is leaving at an off time to avoid congestion, meaning never after 2pm on a Friday. But free of traffic, the two lane road past Barstow is gorgeous in its own barren right. The Mojave and its eroded mountain ranges are a spectacular sight, and, as long as you avoid the dreaded minivans (read page 16 for more), average highway speeds are in excess of 80 mph. For rest stops, there's Barstow, the world's tallest thermometer at Baker, and for the anxious, the border town of Primm, NV with its casinos and the world's most rickety roller coaster. But all of that is foreplay to Vegas and the sense of accomplishment that you get from reaching your journey's end. In this case a sin-filled destination.
Filling up the tank at a gas station off Flamingo Road, the xB took in 9.68 gallons totaling $41.04, and the xD a diminutive 8.64 gallons for a total of $36.64. The cheapest flight I found for the weekend was for Southwest at $126 for a one way or $134 for a round trip. Not only is driving the affordable alternative-especially if you round up the homies and divide up the petrol-you get to steer clear (literally) of the pressurized toilets.